Under The Rule Of A Tyrant
by cybergirl12
Summary: I saw some stories with King Shadow, and I had to do one. See what life was like for Kate Ranger during the reign and fall of King Shadow. The rating may change.
1. Chapter 1

_**Archie Comics and Sonic characters don't belong to me. I do own Kate Ranger.**_

A young girl was rushing through a ruined street, she had a torn shirt and shredded jeans that could now count as shorts, she had deep blue eyes and brown hair. She wanted to get back to the orphanage before curfew. If she didn't either the orphanages' caretaker would be all over her or worse, the kings' police; The Dark Presence. She made it just as the sun started setting, her parents died when she was only four, so the orphanage was the one of the only homes she knew. "_**KATE RANGER!"**_ That was the orphanages' caretaker who wasn't so caring of the kids. Her name was Laura, she was a Mobian grey squirrel and she was the only one who actually ate enough. That's because most of the food she gets, she has for herself and gives the kids scraps or very small portions of the food. The older kids often gave the little ones some of their food. "You've come back late again!" "B-but I have come back before curfew." The little girl, Kate said in defense. Laura seemed to be harshest to Kate because she was human. Some humans blamed Mobians for the current king, and some Mobians blamed humans. Kate was one of the few humans in the city Portal, the capital of King Shadow's reign. Most Mobians made her one of the main humans to blame, children. Her only true friend was a Mobian chipmunk named Max. Max was black with white stripes on his back, black tennis shoes, and white gloves. He was the oldest one there at the age of thirteen. He helped take care of Kate when others wouldn't.

Kate luckily only ended up getting sent to her room which she shared with Max. "You came back late again, huh?" The girl slowly nodded. The chipmunk got up and walked up to her. Kate was nearly taller than Max because Max was a little short for his age. "You need to be more careful of that, Kate." "I know…" She said solemnly. She thought about why she was rummaging through trash bins. The 'caretaker' let even the younger kids go out to who knows where, which was more proof that she didn't care anything about the kids, she was only in it for the money she makes when a kid is adopted. Max said that he would never be adopted because parents are looking for little kids they can keep for a while before they head off, not teenagers. Kate went to the window and saw the kings' palace. She had heard stories of how the world of Mobius was saved from war at the terrible price of brutality by King Shadow. "I wonder if there is any light in this darkness." She muttered to herself. The sun has completely set and revealed a beautiful full moon. She yawned and laid in her cot and drifted off to sleep for the night.

When she woke up the next morning, Max was already up and standing by the window. She got up and let her brown hair flow to just below her shoulders. "Pretty nice day, isn't it Max?" "Yea." Kate looked out the window and looked at buildings. Closer to the palace were some high-tech buildings, but only higher class citizens lived there. The rest were run-down, barely standing buildings and shacks. "Wanna head down now?" Max asked and Kate nodded hopeful that they would get something worth eating. They got four slices of an apple and bread crust. The both gave up three of their apple slices to the four-year olds. They only got to eat once a day so going through trash bins was necessary to survive.

Some of the kids including Kate left to search for some scraps to feed at least some of the kids. She looked through every trash bin she could find for some food, but found nothing. She sat in an empty alley to think of where to try next. She saw the queen, Sally Acorn come over to her and gave her a basket of food. "Here you are, little one." The queen said softly. "Thank you, my queen!" Kate replied while rushing back to the orphanage with the food.

_**(A/N: Yay! Happy ending… for now. You will have to wait until the next chapter to see what happens next!)**_


	2. Chapter 2

**I don't own Archie Comics or Sonic characters. I do own Kate and Max.**

It has been a few days since Queen Sally last gave food to the orphans. She said she would return, but, so far she had not come back. This made Kate wonder what happened, she was worried it was because of the tyrant, Shadow. Unfortunately, she was right…

_A few days ago…_

'_Queen Sally returned from giving food to the little girl who introduced herself as 'Kate'. She did not know, however, that the king was waiting for her… "Where have you been?" "…" "You were giving food to those dirty orphans, weren't you?" The queen looked around to come up with an excuse to keep the young ones safe. "You are giving hope to them. Someday they __**can and will**__ create an uprising, and that must not happen! Liend-Da!" "Yes, my king?" "Teach the queen a lesson. Then I'll give you your next orders." The pink echidna smiled wickedly as she grabbed her whip. Yelps of pain were heard throughout the palace.'_

_Back to the present…_

Kate and Max were playing a game of checkers. Most of the pieces were missing, but, at least it presented a bigger challenge. They were soon called down for breakfast; no one liked what they got. They had moldy bread, only the near-death starving ate. Most gave theirs to the rats. Kate gave hers to and albino rat she named 'Maurice'. Some of the rats, like Maurice, got used to being fed, so sometimes they would sit by the chairs like a dog begging for someone's meal.

Most of the orphans stayed inside that day, because, it was exceptionally cold that day, it was still cold in the orphanage, but, not nearly as cold as it was outside that day. Kate stayed downstairs when the door was pushed open and the Dark Presence stormed in with the hated Liend-Da. She wore a black jumpsuit with matching boots, one of her dreadlocks was made of metal. She ordered her soldiers to kill those who resisted, then, she spotted Kate. "A human?" She stated grinning wildly. " I'm sure King Shadow would **love **to meet you!" Kate tried to run but she got whipped in the arm. The whip left a nasty scar on her arm and it was slightly bleeding. She stayed and waited for her fate when Max stepped in front of her. "Run!" She quickly obliged and ran out of the building. She didn't dare look back.

After a while of running she stopped to rest and to find out where she was. She had gotten closer to the higher-class Mobian's apartments. No human **ever **wanted to end up in this part of the city. Kate wanted to get out of this place even more when she remembered that a certain pair of Mobian cat twins lived in this area. Their names were Jack and Jake, they were identical twins except for the fact that Jack had blue eyes and Jake had grey ones. They were the reason why she was in the orphanage in the first place.

Kate found her way into a nearby alley, near the entrance it looked like someone once took shelter here and possibly still do. She began to shiver when her body realized just how cold it was. Most Mobians don't mind the cold, but, humans don't have all that fur. "Hey Jake, doesn't this filthy human look familiar? I think it's that 'Kate' girl from three years ago!" The older one, Jake stepped up and said, "I think you are right, Jack." Kate remembered those voices and shivered more violently as she looked up to see the tan fur of the two twins who killed her parents…

_Three years ago…_

'_Kate's parents were working in their home/workshop. Her father had the blue eyes Kate had. He was a carpenter for the area. Her mother had the brown hair she had. Her mother usually helped keep things in order. Those twins made a surprise visit to collect their monthly payments to the twins. "Times up, human. Pay up!" "You weren't supposed to come until next week!" "We need more time!" The oldest one smirked and pulled out a gun. "You remember our agreement? If you couldn't pay up whenever we came, we would kill your whole family!" Her father grabbed a hammer to try and hold off the cats while her mother picked up Kate and ran. Kate heard a gunshot then sounds of footsteps coming towards them. Her mother placed her behind a garbage bin, hugged her goodbye and ran into an alley where the twins followed. She never came back…'_

_Present…_

The oldest prepared to pounce when a blue blur knocked both of them down. When the blur stopped moving, it revealed a blue hedgehog, who, didn't say anything but fought off the cats. When they retreated, the blue hedgehog approached the young girl curiously. What was a human doing here? The blue hedgehog had sapphire blue fur that appeared dull because of dust covering his fur and quills with tan ears and a bare stomach, his shoes were red with a white stripe and a golden buckle, the shoes appeared worn down from age and dirt all over them, his eyes were emerald green that shone brightly. He appeared to be in his early forties. The blue hedgehog helped Kate to her feet, the age difference made the blue hedgehog a bit taller than Kate. "So, what's your name?" "I-I'm Kate, sir. I ran over here because the Dark Presence attacked the orphanage I lived in." "Do you know who those cats were?" "T-they were the ones that killed my parents, they threatened that if my father didn't pay his debts, they would kill all of my family." The little girl started to cry slightly and hugged the blue one. He stroked her hair and said, "Don't worry, as long as I am watching you, they won't get you! And you said something about the Dark Presence? That's something we have in common, the Dark Presence don't really like me either."

**(A/N: Sorry if Sonic's personality is not excactly the same as it is in the comics and games.)**


	3. Chapter 3

**I don't own the Sonic characters or Archie Comics. Kate and Max belong to me.**

_King Shadow's castle…_

"I send a whole squad to punish those orphans and you couldn't catch one human girl?!" King Shadow growled at his most trusted commander, Liend-da. "We **were** able to get one of them. He seems to be very close to that girl. He might know where she is. Bring him in!" Queen Sally gasped when she saw a black chipmunk, no older than thirteen. Max. His fur was ruffled, as well as whip marks on his chest and back. Liend-Da whipped him again. "You will kneel before your king!" Max reluctantly kneeled and forced his bangs out of his eyes so the 'king' could see his glare. "Liend-Da said that you might know where your human friend is." "How should I know? For all I know she could be a mile away!" Max had a pretty good idea of where she was, but wouldn't give that to a tyrant like Shadow. The king narrowed his eyes at the young Mobian. "Lock him up in the dungeon. We can't have him create an uprising." A guard forced Max onto his feet and led him into another hall towards the dungeons. "Did you really have to go that far? He was just a boy." Sally groaned, still in slight pain from her 'punishment'. "I can't lose this world to someone like him. I've done too much good to lose it **now**."

_Alleyway in higher-class Mobian and training section of Portal…_

"So, why were those guys after you again?" Sonic never completely understood why those felines were after her. "My family owed a debt to their family. If we didn't 'pay up'; they would hunt my family down." Kate looked down sadly. She never understood why they owed that debt; only that her family did, dating back to her grandfather. Sonic nodded and dug through a garbage bin to find something edible. He pulled out a rotten chilidog and sniffed at it, shrugged then took a bite out of it. A moment passed before Sonic started reacting to rotten food. At first he just hacked, then fake gagging. "Are you… okay?" Kate held some concern because his acting was… pretty good. "Yeah, this just tastes **terrible**. I understand why they threw this away now. But I guess it's better than nothing, right?" Kate nodded her head in agreement and looked for her own food. She found an already peeled orange, but it had mold on it. She didn't want to risk getting sick from that mold, since she didn't know what kind of mold it was. She heard of someone from the orphanage who died by eating something with mold on it. So Kate decided to go without eating for now. One day without food didn't seem that bad to her, since once she had to survive with no food for a week. Sonic set his rotten chilidog down beside him and motioned for Kate to sit next to him. She happily obliged and it didn't take long for her to slip into darkness.

She was awoken by voices approaching the alleyway. She scooted closer to Sonic as he got ready to defend himself and Kate if the people were a threat. "There you are. You couldn't have made it easier for us?" A yellow fox wearing brown shoes, gloves, and a brown scarf followed by a teenage echidna, who was wearing; a collared shirt with a crescent on it, a black jacket, and black boots. Sonic relaxed as he seemed to remember the fox. "Whoa… You're **Sonic the Hedgehog**?" The teenage echidna asked, almost shocked. "I'll admit kiddo. I ask myself that a lot lately. One day, you're king of the world, sent to another dimension to fix all space-time, then **boom!** You're left with nothing but the sneakers on your feet. You're from the old future, aren't you?" "Yes." The fox replied. "Mina and the kids…?" "I had them protected, like me." "Good. That's very good." The fox's expression saddened and he hugged the blue hedgehog. "But not Sonia and Manik, though. They're gone forever. And Sally married Shadow. Why?" Kate and the teenage echidna gasped even though Kate didn't know who Sonic was talking about. The fox and echidna helped Sonic to his feet. "I don't appreciate any of it, Tails. I want my kids back. I want my life back. Oh, sweet Maria help me." The fox now known as 'Tails' shook his head. "I'm sorry, Sonic. We can't risk turning back time again. I hate that you had to pay such a high price for saving us all." "Gah… That's what I do, Tails. And I'd do it again. Maria help me. At least I can fix this! I'm sorry I let things get so bad between us…" Tails smiled and looked Sonic in the eye. "All is forgiven big brother." "Thank you, Tails." The echidna and Kate smiled and the echidna turned to Kate. "I don't think I caught your name." "I-I'm Kate" She said shyly. "I'm Lara-Su and that's Miles, but Sonic seems to always call him Tails." Kate nodded, but suddenly a bright light shined into everyone's eyes. "Don't resist. I will use force." A red echidna said as they were surrounded by echidnas. Kate's and Lara-Su had a look of horror, while Sonic and Tails had a look of irritation.


	4. Chapter 4

**I do not own Sonic and Archie Comics. I do own Kate.**

Soon after Max was taken prisoner for questioning, he was released only about a day later, which deeply confused him. All they said was 'they had what they wanted', he hoped they meant something else, besides what he thought, well… more like feared. When he got back to the orphanage, as he expected, things were still in disarray. He searched for the familiar human face he'd risk his life to protect, though could neither see nor hear her. Unfortunately, his fears were correct.

_Liend-Da's Home…_

Liend-Da and another echidna, Dimitri, who was now no more than a mostly mechanical head in an orb, were in the main room, Lien-Da holding a wine glass and smiling somewhat maliciously. Her son, Rutan, snuck from his room and slipped halfway down the stairway to hear what they were talking about.

"… And I haven't had a better evening in my life, grandfather! Chief Enforcer Knuckles arrested his best friends, that little human girl, and **daughter**! I get praised by King Shadow! And I had a hand in finally bringing down the line of Edmund." Dimitri simply gave her a look as though he hated her.

"You are despicable, Lien-Da! I have not been ashamed of my bloodline since I worked with Doctor Finitevus." She calmly took a sip from her glass and turned to face him.

"Give it a rest, Dimitri." She quietly set her glass down, and then continued. "This is the way things are now. The only three who could change things are now locked away."

Rutan turned his head away from the two, a slightly ashamed expression on his face.

_The Catacombs Beneath Castle Mobius…_

Sonic, Miles, Lara-Su, and Kate were locked up and pinned to the wall by some kind of electric cuffs. The air around them carried a horrible stench, and water leaked through some cracks in the brick walls. A few voracious insects even made their livings here; scurrying around and searching for scraps or preying on things smaller than them, sometimes even on those who… don't make it back out of these prisons.

"Brings back memories, doesn't it?" Sonic smirked and broke the silence, then turned to Miles.

"Yep. You, me, and a prison that will surely lead to our end." The two-tailed fox, whose tails were also pinned to the wall, smiled back. Soon, Lara-Su decided to join in.

"I can't **believe **Dad locked me up! When I tell Mom, she's gonna flip!" The echidna yelled out in agitation.

A walrus, who is called Rotor, was also pinned up with them. His light purple fur was ruffled and stained, scars littering him, spectacles cracked, and one of his tusks was broken. Whenever he spoke, he spoke with a tone that said 'We're done for. It's no use…'.

"How can you all joke at a time like this? King Shadow will show us no mercy. There is no hope for any of us now." Sonic and Miles simply gave a confident smile at him, though Kate blinked. She didn't get it either. Were they so used to danger like this?

"I'll say. Rutan will never let me hear the end of this." Lara-Su shrugged and spoke calmly, though slightly worriedly, not really because of their impending doom, but because of the never-ending taunts from Rutan.

"How can you act like that at a time like this?" Rotor's brow furrowed and he looked at her as though she was insane. They all quickly turned to the door when they heard it open.

"Because she's the daughter of a **guardian.**" The red echidna, Knuckles approached them with a hard expression.

"I'm not surprised a couple of lunatics like you would wind up like this." Sonic and Miles smirked at him, knowing who he was talking about. "But my own daughter…" Lara-Su quickly glared at her father angrily.

"I did what was right, and you know it! I won't apologize or ask forgive-"

"I couldn't be prouder." Lara-Su blinked in surprise as Knuckles brought out a kind of remote and pushed the button on it. Suddenly, most of them nearly fell to the ground, for they were no longer pinned to the cold, brick wall.

"Wait… You planned this all along?!" Miles asked the question like he was talking to some stranger who helped him.

"Of course we did. Did you really think I'd arrest you for real?" Knuckles quickly helped Rotor to his feet and smiled slightly at them.

"Me? Sure. Miles and Lara-Su? Nah." Sonic quickly smirked back at him and stretched for the fight he knew would come.

"I'll hack into the castle's system and make sure you and Knuckles have a clear path. He'll Queen Sally to safety so the monarchy remains somewhat stable. That leaves…" Miles quickly glanced at Sonic with a determined and serious expression.

"Shadow for me. Got it."

After deciding, their plan, they quickly split up into three groups. Knuckles and Sonic, Miles on his own, and the other three quickly leaving the castle to find medical attention for Rotor.

"You have your father's strength." Rotor somberly complimented.

"Umph! Good thing too." Lara-Su almost fell over several times trying to support him. All of them quickly sprinted, or in Lara-Su and Rotor's case, hobbled while Kate walked beside them so she wouldn't get too far ahead of them.

Miles hacked into the castle's system with little time and effort, smirking as he examined his work on the wires and a few computers. Quite fortunately for Lara-Su, the nearest hospital was only a few blocks away. After dropping off Rotor, the echidna caught her breath and began jogging back to the castle.

"I'll take you to where my dad probably took the queen. I have a feeling I'll be needed there!" Kate simply nodded in agreement and had to run nearly to her limit, which thankfully, she didn't need to run far.

"Who ordered the extra-large butt-whooping, heavy on the poetic justice?" Sonic yelled out defiantly after he kicked open the doors of the throne room, with Knuckles snickering at him.

"You've been working on that since you were arrested, haven't you?"

"You better believe it." Knuckles stepped forward and requested Sally would come with him, which she barely hesitated to follow. Sonic kept taking steps forward, gaining small glimpses of the room he was in. Above the throne, there was a statue of the girl Maria with angel wings. There were several passages along the throne room, though right now, where they lead to was irrelevant, only the queen and Shadow seemed to matter.

"It's about time you returned, **King Sonic**. No love lost, my queen?" Sally stopped and quickly turned to Shadow with a shocked expression.

"You **know** about the other timeline?" The king briefly shot an irritated glance towards Sally, then back to Sonic.

"Of course. Lien-Da aside, I am the master of time and space. Remember Chaos Control?" Shadow glared daggers at the rightful king as soon as Sally was out of the way.

"Now that Sally's safe-battle royal time! Um…" Sonic quickly charged and landed a punch on Shadow, though he merely glared back and growled, then tore off his cape, preparing to fight to the death.

"You are old past your prime. I am the Ultimate Life form. I never age." The black hedgehog spin dashed Sonic then kicked him in the chest and landed other hits.

"You were barely a challenge twenty-five years ago. Today you are **nothing**." He spat out those words as he threw the cobalt blue hedgehog to the ground.

"Try picking on someone your own age!" Lara-Su glided over, surprising Shadow, as he almost fell to the ground.

"Are you what counts for a cavalry?" The king missed almost every time he attacked.

"I'm tops in my class, if that counts for anything." She kicked at Shadow, which he quickly blocked.

"What's the matter, Ultimate Life form? Shouldn't you have beaten me by now?" King Shadow's hands were quickly surrounded by a yellow-green aura.

"You have your father's arrogance… But I control the powers of Chaos." Lara-Su snickered as her own hands were surrounded by a green aura.

"Join the club." She quickly retorted after adjusting her glasses.

Shadow threw Chaos Spear after Chaos Spear while Lara-Su chanted under her breath.

"Nngh! Chaos Control!" Shadow growled in agitation and was frozen in that spot as their aura's withered.

"Way to go, Lara-Su! How long will that last?" Sonic shakily stood up and gave a brief thumbs up.

"I'm not sure… But I don't think my great-great-great-great-grandkids will have to worry." She painfully smiled back.

Lara-Su and her father quickly met up and after a brief look-over, they exited the room, Kate soon following to attempt to find Max. She stopped and looked back to see Sonic meeting up with Sally, then silently and some-what submissively turned and exited. She felt her lips twitch and pull themselves into a small smile. For the first time in quite some time, she had something to genuinely smile about.

**(A/N: Sorry for the wait, readers. I hope this longer chapter will be an appropriate apology, though this is the last chapter… Anyways, thank you for your patience!)**


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